BALASORE: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on
Monday greeted new Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar with the successful
test firing of new generation state-of-the-art long range
surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) Barak-8.
Defence sources said the missile, developed jointly by the DRDO and
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), was test launched from the weapon
test range in the Negev desert of Israel at about 10.20 am as per Indian
time.
A DRDO release stated that the missile successfully
intercepted a manoeuvring air-breathing target mimicking an attacking
combat aircraft. The test also validated all the elements related to the
naval and land-based variants of the missile including the phased array
radar, battle management system, communications and the interceptor.
“After
detecting the incoming aerial target through the system's radar, the
weapon system calculated the optimal interception point, launched the
missile into its operational trajectory that acquired the target and
successfully intercepted it. All the weapon system's components met
mission parameters successfully”, the release stated.
Barak-8 is
an Indo-Israeli surface-to-air missile (SAM), designed to defend against
aircraft, anti-ship missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). In
January 2007, India and Israel had signed a US$330 million deal to
co-develop an all new generation of the Barak SAM, which has been named
as Barak-8.
The missile has a length of about 4.5 meters, a
diameter of 0.54 meters, wingspan of 0.94 meters and weighs around 275
kg including a 60 kg warhead which detonates at proximity. The missile
has maximum speed of Mach 2 with an operational range of 75 km to 100
km. It possesses high degrees of maneuverability at target interception
range.
A second motor is fired during the terminal phase, at which
stage the active radar seeker is activated to home in on to the enemy
track. Barak-8 has been designed to counter a wide variety of air-borne
threats, such as anti-ship missiles, aircraft, UAVs and drones as well
as supersonic cruise missiles, the sources added.
The test was
carried out in the presence of DRDO scientists and officials of the
Indian Armed Forces. The system is developed for both Israel defence
forces and Indian armed forces. Scientific Advisor to Defence Minister
and DRDO Chief Avinash Chander and President of IAI Joseph Weiss
witnessed the test along with top officials of Israel defence forces.
According
to IAI, Barak-8 employs a state-of-the-art phased array multi-mission
radar, two-way data link and flexible command and control system.
Congratulating scientists, Chander termed the event as a milestone in
cooperation between the two countries in developing advanced weapon
systems.
